Webster's Dictionary, 1913

Epithelium noun ; plural English Epitheliums , Latin Epithelia . [ New Latin , from Greek 'epi` upon + ... nipple.] (Anat.) The superficial layer of cells lining the alimentary canal and all its appendages, all glands and their ducts, blood vessels and lymphatics, serous cavities, etc. It often includes the epidermis ( i. e. , keratin-producing epithelial cells), and it is sometimes restricted to the alimentary canal, the glands and their appendages, -- the term endothelium being applied to the lining membrane of the blood vessels, lymphatics, and serous cavities.

Epithema noun [ New Latin , from Greek 'epi` upon + ... a case, box, from ... to place.] (Zoology) A horny excrescence upon the beak of birds.

Epithesis noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... a putting on; 'epi` upon + ... to place.] The addition of a letter at the end of a word, without changing its sense; as, numb for num , whilst for whiles .

Epithet noun [ Latin epitheton , Greek ..., from ... added, from ... to add; 'epi` upon, to + ... to put, place: confer French épithète . See Do .] 1. An adjective expressing some quality, attribute, or relation, that is properly or specially appropriate to a person or thing; as, a just man; a verdant lawn.

A prince [ Henry III.] to whom the epithet "worthless" seems best applicable.

Hallam. 2. Term; expression; phrase. "Stuffed with epithets of war." Shak. Syn. -- Epithet , Title . The name epithet was formerly extended to nouns which give a title or describe character (as the " epithet of liar"), but is now confined wholly to adjectives. Some rhetoricians, as Whately, restrict it still further, considering the term epithet as belonging only to a limited class of adjectives, viz., those which add nothing to the sense of their noun, but simply hold forth some quality necessarily implied therein; as, the bright sun, the lofty heavens, etc. But this restriction does not prevail in general literature. Epithet is sometimes confounded with application , which is always a noun or its equivalent.

Epitithides noun [ New Latin , from Greek ... to place upon. See Epithet .] (Architecture) The uppermost member of the cornice of an entablature.

Epitomator noun [ Late Latin ] An epitomist. Sir W. Hamilton.

Epitome noun ; plural Epitomes . [ Latin , from Greek ... a surface incision, also, and abridgment, from ... to cut into, cut short; 'epi` upon + te`mnein to cut: confer French épitome . See Tome .] 1. A work in which the contents of a former work are reduced within a smaller space by curtailment and condensation; a brief summary; an abridgement.

[ An] epitome of the contents of a very large book.

Sydney Smith. 2. A compact or condensed representation of anything.

An epitome of English fashionable life.

Carlyle.

A man so various that he seemed to be Not one, but all mankind's epitome .

Epitomist noun One who makes an epitome; one who abridges; an epitomizer. Milton.

Epitomize transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Epitomized ; present participle & verbal noun Epitomizing .] 1. To make an epitome of; to shorten or abridge, as a writing or discourse; to reduce within a smaller space; as, to epitomize the works of Justin. 2. To diminish, as by cutting off something; to curtail; as, to epitomize words. [ Obsolete] Addison.

Epitomizer noun An epitomist. Burton.

Epitrite noun [ Greek ... containing an integer and one third ( i. e ., &frac43;, or in the ratio of 4 to 3); 'epi` upon, over + ... the third: confer Latin epitritos , French épitrite .] (Gr. & Lat. Pros.) A foot consisting of three long syllables and one short syllable. » It is so called from being compounded of a spondee (which contains 4 times) with an iambus or a trochee (which contains 3 times). It is called 1st, 2d, 3d, or 4th epitrite according as the short syllable stands 1st, 2d, etc.

Epitrochlea noun [ New Latin See Epi- , and Trochlea .] (Anat.) A projection on the outer side of the distal end of the humerus; the external condyle.

Epitrope noun [ Latin , from Greek ... reference, arbitration, from ... to turn over, to give up, yield; 'epi` upon, over + ... to turn.] (Rhet.) A figure by which permission is either seriously or ironically granted to some one, to do what he proposes to do; e. g. , "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still."

Epizeuxis noun [ Latin , from Greek ... a fastening together, repetition, from ... to fasten to or upon; 'epi` upon + ... to join, yoke.] (Rhet.) A figure by which a word is repeated with vehemence or emphasis, as in the following lines: -

Alone , alone , all all alone , Alone on a wide wide sea.

Coleridge.

Epizoan noun (Zoology) An epizoön.

Epizoic adjective (Zoology) Living upon the exterior of another animal; ectozoic; -- said of external parasites.

Epizoön noun ; plural Epizoa . [ New Latin , from Greek 'epi` upon + zw^,on animal.] (Zoology) One of the artificial group of invertebrates of various kinds, which live parasitically upon the exterior of other animals; an ectozoön. Among them are the lice, ticks, many acari, the lerneans, or fish lice, and other crustaceans.

Epoch (ĕp"ŏk or ē"pŏk; 277) noun [ Late Latin epocha , Greek 'epochh` check, stop, an epoch of a star, an historical epoch, from 'epe`chein to hold on, check; 'epi` upon + 'e`chein to have, hold; akin to Sanskrit sah to overpower, Goth. sigis victory, Anglo-Saxon sigor , sige , German sieg : confer French époque . See Scheme .] 1. A fixed point of time, established in history by the occurrence of some grand or remarkable event; a point of time marked by an event of great subsequent influence; as, the epoch of the creation; the birth of Christ was the epoch which gave rise to the Christian era.

In divers ages, . . . divers epochs of time were used.

Usher.

Great epochs and crises in the kingdom of God.

Trench.

The acquittal of the bishops was not the only event which makes the 30th of June, 1688, a great epoch in history.

Macaulay. » Epochs mark the beginning of new historical periods, and dates are often numbered from them. 2. A period of time, longer or shorter, remarkable for events of great subsequent influence; a memorable period; as, the epoch of maritime discovery, or of the Reformation. "So vast an epoch of time." F. Harrison.

The influence of Chaucer continued to live even during the dreary interval which separates from one another two important epochs of our literary history.

A. W. Ward. 3. (Geol.) A division of time characterized by the prevalence of similar conditions of the earth; commonly a minor division or part of a period.

The long geological epoch which stored up the vast coal measures.

J. C. Shairp. 4. (Astron.) (a) The date at which a planet or comet has a longitude or position. (b) An arbitrary fixed date, for which the elements used in computing the place of a planet, or other heavenly body, at any other date, are given; as, the epoch of Mars; lunar elements for the epoch March 1st, 1860. Syn. -- Era; time; date; period; age. -- Epoch , Era . We speak of the era of the Reformation, when we think of it as a period, during which a new order of things prevailed; so also, the era of good feeling, etc. Had we been thinking of the time as marked by certain great events, or as a period in which great results were effected, we should have called the times when these events happened epochs , and the whole period an epoch .

The capture of Constantinople is an epoch in the history of Mahometanism; but the flight of Mahomet is its era .

Epochal adjective Belonging to an epoch; of the nature of an epoch. " Epochal points." Shedd.

Epode noun [ Latin epodos , Greek ..., from ..., adj., singing to, sung or said after, from ... to sing to; 'epi` upon, to + ... to sing: confer French épode . See Ode .] (Poet.) (a) The after song; the part of a lyric ode which follows the strophe and antistrophe, -- the ancient ode being divided into strophe, antistrophe, and epode . (b) A species of lyric poem, invented by Archilochus, in which a longer verse is followed by a shorter one; as, the Epodes of Horace. It does not include the elegiac distich.

Eponym, Eponyme noun [ Confer French éponyme . See Eponymous .] 1. The hypothetical individual who is assumed as the person from whom any race, city, etc., took its name; as, Hellen is an eponym of the Hellenes. 2. A name, as of a people, country, and the like, derived from that of an individual.

Éprouvette noun [ French] (Gun.) An apparatus for testing or proving the strength of gunpowder.

Epsom salts, salt (Medicine) Sulphate of magnesia having cathartic qualities; -- originally prepared by boiling down the mineral waters at Epsom , England, -- whence the name; afterwards prepared from sea water; but now from certain minerals, as from siliceous hydrate of magnesia.

Epsomite noun Native sulphate of magnesia or Epsom salt.

Epulary adjective [ Latin epularis , from epulum a feast: confer French épulaire .] Of or pertaining to a feast or banquet. [ Obsolete] Smart.

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